The Devils got another win on Thursday night, and the guy making the first line hum was Arseny Gritsyuk.
New Jersey rolled past the Anaheim Ducks 4-1, controlling the shot battle for much of the night. Nico Daws gave the Devils the kind of performance they needed when the goals weren’t flowing, and the team had a 2-0 lead by the first intermission after goals from Gritsyuk and Nico Hischier.
Gritsyuk has now scored in four straight games, and the finish has come in a variety of ways. He finished off a play against the New York Rangers with an empty-net rebound goal after a strong reaction to the loose puck.
Against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, he made Cale Makar look foolish before adding to the Devils’ lead. On Thursday, he opened the scoring for New Jersey.
Sheldon Keefe’s lineup adjustment has clearly clicked. When the offense wasn’t getting where it needed to go early in the season, he moved Gritsyuk onto the top line with Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes and slid Anthony Mantha down to the third line. That has been the kind of shuffle teams hope for but rarely get this quickly.
The Devils brought Gritsyuk back this offseason on a three-year deal, and it has already started to look like a steal. He was the kind of under-the-radar move that barely made a ripple outside the organization, yet he’s now functioning like a first-line winger on a contract worth under $4 million.
He doesn’t win with pure top-end speed, but he moves with enough pace and consistency to stay in sync with Bratt and Hughes. Add in the shot - one that regularly gets north of 80 miles per hour - and the fit starts to make a lot of sense.
For a team that has spent so long searching for the right answer on its top line, Gritsyuk may have been there all along. Keefe deserves credit for making the switch this early, even before the points started stacking up. If Gritsyuk stays in this role, the way he’s playing now points to a real chance at 30 goals or more.
The Devils are a better team this week than they were last week, and the biggest reason is the simplest one: Gritsyuk is on the first line.
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